Creative Writing vs. Technical Writing: What the Difference between Them?

What Is Creative Writing?

For many centuries, scientists and writers have tried to define creative writing, but the task being not easy. Usually, it means the art of creating literary works, original in content and ways of submitting material. For example, a journalistic article cannot be considered as creative, because its main goal is to objectively present the facts, but not express feelings or opinions of the writer. The goal of the creative writing is the exchange of one's own visions of events or situations. The authors try to understand the difference between truth and lies, between reality and fiction through their storytelling.

The types of creative writing include poetry, scripts, fiction, speeches, memoirs, personal essays, etc. Writers often use certain tools to present their works, such as dialogue, metaphors, comparisons, descriptions, exclamation and question marks, designed to convey the emotions of the character. Creative writing examples were created not for informing the reader, but for the emotional-spiritual component of the individual's life. People like to read novels and stories not because they are obligatory for familiarization, but simply because they bring a kind of pleasure.

Among the creative writing tips can be identified the following:

• Read as many different literary genres as possible.
• Get a notebook for your own original ideas. If you cannot imagine your life without gadgets, use a smartphone or tablet.
• Use dictionaries and encyclopedias to refine the data or content of the concept.
• Repeat the rules of the grammar and do not be lazy to adjust your work.

And when creating a draft, disable the internal criticism in yourself. Just write, let it be weak, simple, boring, but write. That’s why many psychologists recommend using creative writing ideas to unleash own feelings and emotions. Memoirs about yourself often help to look at your life from a different, more objective side. It is therefore difficult to give a definition of creativity because it is purely subjective and depends on the talent of the author although the line separating the creative writing from other types remains very blurred.

Definition of Technical Writing

Technical writing can compete with the creative one regarding the primacy in appearance. At one time, it was used by Aristotle, I. Newton, and L. Da Vinci for describing their inventions and the results of experiments. The industrial revolution has significantly expanded the field of technical writing in connection with the increasing need for people to learn new skills. The modern era can no longer be imagined without technical documents accompanying the release of any new technology.

So, what is technical writing? It is often understood as the skill of drawing up technical documentation required in many professional fields, for example, IT technology, economics, law, pharmacology, household appliances, etc. This is a peculiar form of communication through instructions, applications, and technical references.

Technical writing serves to inform, for example, about the properties of the product or the privacy policy on the site. Being one of the kind, such writing is used not for entertainment, but rather for motivation to action (buying, observing caution or the law, evaluating one's own skills). The information that technical writers transmit is often a priori complex and boring, so their main task is to simplify its meaning, compress it to a minimum and make it easy to read for any audience. Therefore, in technical documents, you will not find fanciful artistic turns, hyperbole, and epithets. On the contrary, the phrases are as clear as possible, well-adjusted, and unambiguous. Examples of a technical writing include press releases, product descriptions, official guarantees, summaries, business proposals, instructions, certification, technical reports and passports, white papers, electronic mailings, etc.

A professional writer must have appropriate technical skills. First, he/she has to know his/her audience in order to accurately adapt the language of the document to the thinking of consumers. Secondly, the presence of a research vein, responsible for collecting data from various sources. Thirdly, it is the availability of communication and technical skills, without which it is impossible to work in a team and describe technical issues. And, of course, an effective technical writer ought to have excellent writing skills, absolute literacy, and possession of digital tools.

Also, technical writers spend a lot of time making documents legible. The correct design through the use of a marker, various fonts, headings, a logically consistent structure, facilitates the understanding of complex information.

Among the necessary technical means are the following:

• Text programs (Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and Google Docs) are used for publishing, editing, designing and printing documents. In this context, mention should also be made of tools for web content that also form the profile of modern technical writers.
• Tools for creating reference systems, which in further are delivered by web browsers or provided as files.
• Image editing programs are used to create visual elements of documents. To display statistical data, classical graphs and diagrams are often used, or refer to a more modern analog, namely, infographics.

For technical writers, it is important that a document is easily perceived, especially if compliance with these rules is crucial to the saving of human life. To do this, the author needs to observe the work of specialists, for example, safety engineers on the oil rig, and also conduct interviews with the best of them. In this case, the document will function as intended. A similar type of research is related to testing. After its completion, the author can submit the draft document to the appropriate test group for reference. Then get acquainted with the results of the survey method and, if necessary, make corrections to the manual.

Thus, both creative and technical writing is called upon to perform specific functions. The first kind stimulates thinking, while the second one provides useful information necessary to provide comfort in everyday life. The main thing is for the authors of these categories to cope well with the goals set.